WO2002021257A1 - Customizing a legal document by extracting components from a database - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and apparatus for automatically creating a legal document from a plurality of source documents is described. Using this method, a prospective licensor can create a license agreement (318) to meet their specific needs by making choices from a number of options (306) and having that license agreement automatically checked and amended to produce a consistent document. The system of the present invention includes a legal database that is accessible by a plurality of users. The system includes a database for storing legal data for creating a legal document. Access to the legal database is provided to a user to extract legal components from the database in order to create a legal document specific to the needs of the user.

Description

CUSTOMIZING A LEGAL DOCUMENT BY EXTRACTING COMPONENTS FROM A DATABASE

RELATED CASES

[0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part (CIP) of Application No. 09/657,524, filed September 8, 2000.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a method and

apparatus for automatically creating a document and/or providing

information and/or support material. More particularly, but not

exclusively, to creating a legal document relating to intellectual property

and/or providing information and/or support material to that intellectual

property.

Description of Related Art

[0003] When it is desired to create a legal document, for

example a license agreement, there are a large number of variable terms

and conditions that can be incorporated therein. In the case of a patent license agreement there will be certain standard clauses that the licensor

will always want included in the document and a selection of optional

clauses that are available to the licensee. For example, the licensor will

want to structure the document to focus on selected territories, modes of

royalty payment, duration of the license, ownership of subsequent

improvement patents and many other variables which are part of a

license negotiation. With existing practices the initial drafting of such a

document can be extremely time consuming and is often hindered by

not having readily available a list of options that will be acceptable to

the licensee.

[0004] There is a need to provide a method by which a

prospective licensor can create a license agreement to meet their

specific needs by making choices from a number of options and having

that license agreement automatically checked and amended to produce a

consistent document.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a

system for creating a legal document comprising a legal database that is

accessible by a plurality of users and stores legal data for creating a legal document; the legal data comprising a plurality of legal

components associated with a plurality of possible legal agreements;

and a user database coupled to the legal database by a computer

network for providing access to the legal database by the user for

extracting legal components from the legal database to create a legal

document specific to the needs of the user.

[0006] A legal database may be a legal database and/or a

document database and/or an information database.

[0007] In a preferred embodiment the system is provided with

software which displays to the user a 'License Walk Thru" in which the

user is shown a series of screens in the form of a route map, for

example for a license agreement. The screens are provided with

prompts to direct the user to relevant data, for example the headings and

clauses in a patent license agreement, and the user can select and add

the clauses to the document being created. The system software can

also allow the user to draw down support information from another

relevant database, for example patent information from a patent

database. [0008] In a preferred embodiment of the system, an

autochecker device is provided wliich scans the legal document created

by the user to identify clauses which cross-refer to other clauses and

checks if target clauses are present. Similarly the autochecker may have

the functionality of identifying phrases which are normally defined

within the legal document and checks if the definition is present within

the document.

[0009] The system is designed to display to the user any

changes that are being proposed to the legal document. For example,

the autochecker device can display to the user both target and source

clauses and requests the user to indicate if the unselected clause is

required. Similarly can display to the user a 'missing' definition and

requests if the insertion of that definition is required.

[0010] When the autochecker device has completed its steps

of checking for inconsistencies within the document and the user has

inputted their answers, the autochecker device makes a final check of

the legal document, hereinafter described as a Legal Folder, with the

contents in a checklist table. The autochecker device compares the

contents and produces and displays to the user a report of the identified changes agreed with the user. The user is given the opportunity to

decide if they are satisfied with the Folder contents. If the user declines

the process of determining the license clauses etc can be repeated. If the

user is satisfied with the Folder contents the Folder is "frozen" and

downloaded. At this stage the final form of the document is created by

fitting the agreed clauses into a 'heading Skeleton' which sequentially

numbers the clauses within the document and displays the final

agreement on the user's screen for review, if the user agrees with the

content they accept and the user is provided with an Agreement in

electronic or paper form along with the autochecker report.

[0011] The term "legal document" is used herein to mean a

document in either paper or electronic form.

[0012] As will be appreciated to a person skilled in the art the

system can manage communications and security between the user and

the legal database in a variety of different ways. For example, all

modifications to the document proposed by the user can be

communicated in real time to the host server hosting the legal database.

Alternatively, the user can be provided with an applet which allows at least some of the amendments to be made at the users server before they

are communicated back to the host server.

[0013] The present invention also provides a method of

automatically creating a legal document from legal data defining

standard and/or variable terms and conditions, the method comprising

creating the legal data in a database; selectively extracting from the

legal database the desired legal data and automatically creating the legal

document from the desired legal data.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment the method includes

displaying to the user a "License Walk Thru" in which the user is

shown a series of screens in the form of a route map, for example for a

license agreement. The screens are displayed sequentially and include

prompts to direct the user to relevant data, for example the headings and

clauses in a patent license agreement, that the user can select and add

the clauses to the document being created.

[0015] In a further preferred embodiment the method includes

the step of automatically checking the legal document created by the

user to identify clauses which cross-refer to other clauses and checks if target clauses are present. The method may also include the step of

identifying phrases which are normally defined within the legal

document to check whether the definition is present within the

document.

[0016] There is also provided a method for creating

electronically a legal document from a plurality of information details

associated with a plurality of legal documents, the method comprising

creating the information details associated with the plurality of legal

documents and storing that information in a database, and extracting

from the database one or more information details from the plurality of

information details and using the extracted information to create the

legal document.

[0017] The database for storing the created information is

associated with a first computer system and the extracted information

details are stored in a second database associated with a second

computer system. The legal document may be a license relating to the

licensing of intellectual property. [0018] Another aspect of the present invention is a computer

program for creating a legal document for use with the methods and

systems defined above and described hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The invention will be described further, by way of

examples, with reference to Figures 1 to 8 of the accompanying

drawings.

[0020] FIGURE 1 shows a system schematic of the present

invention;

[0021] FIGURE 2 shows a flow chart illustrating the steps involved

in an on-line licensing model for creating a legal document in

accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] FIGURE 3 shows another embodiment of the present

invention illustrating the steps involved in an on-line licensing model

for creating a legal document in accordance with an example

embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] FIGURE 4 illustrates a high level schematic disclosing

various modules which enable a user to construct a legal document;

[0024] FIGURE 5 illustrates a detailed flow chart identifying the

steps involved in creating a legal document; [0025] FIGURES 6a-6b illustrate flowcharts identifying detailed

steps involved in creating a legal document in accordance with the

present invention as in FIGURE 4;

[0026] FIGURES 7a-7d illustrate various user interfaces presented to

a user during the process of creating a legal document in accordance

with an example embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] FIGURE 8 illustrates a high level flowchart for building a

legal document in accordance with an example embodiment of the

present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0028] Referring to the drawings Figure 1 shows a preferred

embodiment of a system according to the invention, comprising in

general, a communications network 1 which interconnects system

station 2, and user stations 3 and 4. Although only two user stations are

shown it will be appreciated that more user stations can be provided.

Preferably, there will be many user stations interconnected via the

network to each other and to system station 2.

[0029] In more detail, system station 2 comprises an online

data base 21 which is 20 connected to the network 1 and to system terminals 22 and system printer 23. User stations 3 and 4 are similar

comprising user terminals 31 and user printer 32 connected via the

network connections 10 to the network 1. The user stations 3, 4 may

have any combination of user terminals and user printers and in

particular although a user station will usually have at least I user

terminal 31 no specific combination of user terminals and user printers

is required.

[0030] In general operation, a user at a user station will access

the online data base in the system station to retrieve data, as described

in more detail below, and to perform operations on that data and/or to

create or modify material created from that data and/or other user data.

The material created by a user may be provided to another user station

via communications network or to the systems station for use within the

systems station or onward transmission to another user station. The

more detailed operation of the system to facilitate online licensing of

intellectual property is described in more detail below.

On-line Licensing Process Model I

[0031] The core concept of the Licensing Process Model is to

provide users with a range of material, which a user can select from, to gather and/or create material suitable to their needs. This model is

generally illustrated in FIGURE 2.

[0032] In summary, the Licensing Process Model 200

provides users with a graduate series of optional selectable Checklists

and Template(s). An overview diagram of Licensing Support Material

Model is presented below. Users would access the Licensing Process

Model by either requesting the Basic or Active Checklist.

[0033] The Basic Checklist 202 provides one or more lists of

terms and conditions, (3 are currently envisaged), that a

Licensor/Licensee might wish/need to include in a license. The purpose

of the Basic Checklist is to provide a knowledgeable user with a top

level reference document, and allow users with a greater requirement

for support material, typically less experienced users, with on demand

access to more detailed material. The more detailed material will be

available as background material, available — it is proposed — as pull

down menu items by clicking on a Checklist item. Thus, the background

information will be user selectable. Envisaged background information

includes - Term Definition, Prompt Questions, and Sample Clause(s). [0034] The Active Checklist 204 is a subset of the Basic

Checklist into which User can insert data, Call data down from, or

Select from a range of options. The subset is a set of terms and

conditions (Terms) that, collectively, can form the core or basis for a

license It can be regard as a minimum set - it is not the single minimum

set (nor is there one) — of information needed to form a license. The

Terms, can be divided between Variable terms and Optional terms.

Both Variable and Optional terms will be user determinable. Variable

terms, e.g., royalty rate, will be user provided, or provided by call down

from, e.g. Patent numbers, while Optional terms, such as Exclusivity,

will be selectable from a list - e.g. Non-Exclusive, Exclusive, Sole. The

Active Checklist 202 should be emailable - it could form the basis for a

heads of agreement between parties. It can also be used for the Active

Skeleton License 206.

[0035] The Active Skeleton License 206 is intended to

provide, for example a basic Patent, Manufacture and Sale License.

Users can add to the license or use, with their own data, and subject to

their own choices, the license they have created. The Active Checklist

is intended to be the input template for the Active Skeleton License. As

mentioned above, there are a many potential variables to a license. Online Licensing Process Model 2

[0036] As shown in the process diagram in Figure 3, a User

can access the online licensing process model 2 at a number of access

points. For example, a user can access the process through a series of

prompt questions as identified at 302, and described in more detail

below, which will give access to basic checklists 304 for the licensing

process 300. These basic checklists 304 will provide a user with

information and examples of terms and conditions for a license by

accessing the data base records containing item definitions 310 and

sample clauses 312. The user can be presented with the option of

selecting sample clauses 312 to create a license generally indicated at

318 or be presented with a "skeleton" license template as indicated at

308 in which user and system data can be incorporated. As an

alternative, a user can be provided with an active checklist 306 which is

a document listing terms and conditions for a license, and into which a

user can input user provided data or data from the system database.

[0037] For example, the system database may contain records

of patents for license and the active checklist may be formed in part by

the selection of data from the data base either under user control or automatically. Also, a user may provide user data for example a chosen

royalty rate or payment sum and enter this into the active checklist 306.

The active checklist 306 may be used to provide data in one of a

number of formats. The active checklist 306 itself may be (i) provided

to the user as a document, or (ii) it may be provided to another user

station by means of an e-mail document, or (iii) it may be incorporated

into a license skeleton template, i.e., a license document having the

terms and conditions of a license in order to provide a complete or

partially complete license document, which may be provided to the user

creating the document or to another user station. The active checklist

306 may be used in co-operation with the clause selection 314 and user

license build process 318 so that a user can provide data and select data

from the online data base to be included in a license build 318 using the

clause selection process 314.

License Walk Thru

[0038] This business process as described in Figures 4 to 8

allow the user to develop a license agreement to meet the user's specific

needs by making choices from a number of options. [0039] As a first step to the License Walk Thru the user is

shown a route map 402 for a license agreement. Prompts direct the user

to relevant clauses which can then be selected and added to the License

Folder. Certain clauses will draw information from the relevant

database listing.

[0040] Figure 4 illustrates a high level schematic disclosing

various modules which enable a user to construct a legal document from

a number of options. As a first step to the license walkthrough as

indicated at 402, a user is shown a route map for a license agreement.

The license walkthrough is preferably shown as a series of user

interface templates/screens to the user. The screens are provided with

prompts to direct the user to relevant data, for example, the headings

and clauses in a patent license agreement. These steps are generally

indicated by numerals 404, 409, respectively. The system also enables

the user to import information from other database listings, such as for

example, patent information from a patent database, as indicated at step

406. The legal document created from the collected information is

processed through an autochecker in order to identify clauses within the

legal document that cross-refer to other clauses. This step is generally

indicated at 408. Also, autochecker scans the legal document to determine the presence of target clauses.

41] Figure 5 illustrates a detailed flow chart 500 for creating a

legal document, a high level description of which is described as above

with reference to Figure 4. Once a legal document is created, and the

user is satisfied that all the necessary clauses are present within the legal

document, the user freezes further the document to prevent any further

modifications to the created document and downloads the same for

further review and processing.

[0042] Figures' 6a-6b show a detailed flowchart illustrating

the various process steps involved in creating a legal document

Referring to Figure 6a, the process of creating a legal document starts

with step 602 wherein a user commences "walkthru", reviews a first

question presented as at step 602 and determines if further information

is required as indicated at step 608. Further information is sought by

reviewing the checklist and considering various options presented to

accept a presented clause, reject a clause, or insert the user's own clause.

These steps are generally shown as indicated at 612 through 622,

respectively. If additional information is desired, such information is

either imported or inserted to the license folder and the process returns to "walkthru". These steps are generally shown from 624 through 632,

respectively. If the question read at step 606 is not relevant, then the

user returns to "walkthru" as indicated at step 602. In the event that the

user encounters further questions as identified at 634, the above

described process is repeated by directing the user through loop 637.

However, if there are no more questions, then the user is directed to go

to definitions as indicated at 640, appropriate words or phrases are

highlighted and selected definitions are added to a folder as indicated at

642, 644, respectively.

[0043] The assembled document is then passed through an

autochecker for identifying clauses which cross refer to other clauses

and checks if the target clauses are present as indicated at step 648. A

determination is then made as to whether a select clause is required or

not as identified at step 652. Several such delinquent clauses are

identified and processed appropriately. If there are no other delinquent

clauses, then the autochecker identifies phrases which normally are

defined, and then checks if the definition is present at step 656. Missing

definitions are displayed and added to the definition folder. The folder

contents are compared with a checklist at step 664 and a report is

produced as indicated at step 666. If the user is satisfied with the folder contents, then such contents are frozen and downloaded into a heading

skeleton document. The clauses selected by the user are sequentially

numbered by the "walkthru" process and an agreement is displayed on

screen for review. If the document is acceptable, then it is provided in

electronic or paper form along with an autochecker report. These steps

are generally indicated at steps 670 through 676. If the document is not

acceptable, and the user still has some concerns, then the user is

directed to the "walkthru" process as indicated at step 674.

[0044] As noted above, when the user reaches the end of the

License Walk Thru the contents of the folder are then compared to a

check list. The user is given the option of revisiting the License Walk

Thru or adding their own text. When satisfied the user checks the

"freeze and download" button and is presented with a Draft Agreement

for Review.

[0045] No two situations are identical and it is down to the

Licenser to select an agreement which meets his particular

circumstances. This Walk Thru does not replace the Professional

Advice which the 'User can obtain from its own advisors especially on patent, legal and taxation matters Use of any documentation created

using the Walk Thru is the responsibility of the Licensor.

[0046] When the final document is produced after going

through the Autochecker, the clauses will be hung onto a skeleton/frame

document in order to produce a coherent document rather than a random

selection of clauses. Other rules may be applied within the skeleton

which could also include virtual headings (i.e. ones which fix a location

without appearing on the face of the document — the overt headings).

[0047] Figures 7a-7d illustrate various user interfaces

presented to a user during the process of creating a legal document in

accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 8 illustrates a high level flowchart for building a legal document

in accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention.

[0048] On-line negotiation of a license agreement may be

facilitated when both the licenser and licensee have access to the

document creator/license "Walkthru". One party should have full access

rights and ownership while the other may have read only access, limited

editor access or full access. [0049] The method as disclosed in present invention provides

a way to handle dialogue during license negotiation between a licensor

and a licensee. For example, a first draft agreement may be provided by

A (e.g. licensor) to B (e.g. licensee). The autochecker report may be

made visible only to the originator of the report. However, from this

point on further reports (license negotiation tracking reports) may be

produced which will in whole or part be visible to one or other or both

parties. In particular, the record of changes and arguments for those

changes, if any, put forward by the initiator will be visible to both

parties, while private annotations will not.

[0050] The licensee (B) reviews and makes counter proposal

with additional or substitute clauses. The auto-checker checks the

consistency of the new report, and when the initiator is satisfied, the

initiator produces a revised document and license negotiation tracking

report. The revised document and the report are sent to licensor (A).

The licensee (B) reviews and responds in the same manner as the

licensor (A). This process continues until both sides are exhausted, or

until a consensus is reached. It may also be possible for the tracking

report to indicate whether or not the sides are approaching a consensus or moving apart. In a simple form, this would be by counting the

number of words in the amendments and arguments, and then plotting

the trend.

[0051] In a more complex form, weighting factors could be

applied to certain clauses or words (e.g., the word 'not' which would

reverse the intent of a clause, and thus would be given a high

weighting). The final draft/engrossment would be held as a matter of

record along with the amendments which led to it. The process would

take place over secure or encoded links with the usual log-on and

password protection arrangements, with a possibility of a number of

people being allowed to amend but only one person from each side

authorized to 'sign off on each stage before revisions are sent to the

other party. This procedure is helpful either as a follow on to the initial

document creation, or in more conventionally produced documents as

outlined below.

[0052] Since there could be a free text capability on any

clause (only constrained by the need to provide certain background

information or tags to allow the clause to be placed in the correct

position on the 'skeleton'/document frame and to put it in the right context for the autochecker), this process could be used as a way of

tracking and tracing the development of legal agreements produced

through conventional means. Almost invariably, lawyers will produce

an agreement from a previous or standard agreement, adding and

amending to suit particular circumstances. This method can be applied

in a wider context - e.g. other legal agreements (as envisaged), or other

assessments and reviews and specifications.

53] While the invention has been described in connection with

what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred

embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited

to the disclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover

various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the

spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A system for creating a legal document, comprising a database that

is accessible by a plurality of users and stores legal data for creating a legal

document; the legal data comprising a plurality of legal components

associated with a plurality of possible legal agreements; and a user terminal

coupled to the database by a communications network for providing access

to the legal database by the user for extracting legal components from the

database to create a legal document specific to the needs of the user.

2. A system as in claim 1, including software which displays to the

user a series of screens in the form of a route map, the screens being

provided with prompts to direct the user to relevant data to allow the user to

select and add selected data to the document being created.

3. A system as in claim 2, wherein the user can draw down support

information from another relevant database.

4. A system as in claim 1, including an autochecker for checking the

legal document created by the user to identify clauses which cross-refer to

other clauses and checks if target clauses are present.

5. A system as in claim 4, wherein the autochecker has the

functionality of identifying phrases which are normally defined within the

legal document and checks if the definition is present within the document.

6. A system as in claim 4, wherein the system displays to the user any

changes that are being proposed to the legal document.

7. A system as in claim 6, wherein the display shows the user both

target and source clauses and requests the user to indicate if the unselected

clause is required.

8. A system as claim 6, wherein the display shows the user a 'missing'

definition and requests if the insertion of that definition is required.

9. A system as in claim 4, wherein after the autochecker device has

completed its steps of checking for inconsistencies within the document

and the user has inputted their answers, the autochecker device makes a

final check of the legal document with the contents in a checklist table.

10. A system as in claim 9, wherein the autochecker device compares

the contents and produces and displays to the user a report of the identified

changes agreed with the user.

11. A system as in claim 10, wherein the user is given the opportunity to

decide if they are satisfied with the contents in the legal document and if so

the document can be downloaded in electronic or paper form.

12. A method of automatically creating a legal document from legal data

defining standard and/or variable terms and conditions, the method

comprising creating the legal data in a database; selectively extracting from

the legal database the desired legal data and automatically creating the legal

document from the desired legal data.

13. A method as in claim 12, including displaying to the user a series of

screens in the form of a route map, the screens being displayed sequentially

and including prompts to direct the user to relevant data that the user can

select and add the clauses to the document being created.

14. A method as claimed in claim 12, including the step of automatically

checking the legal document created by the user to identify clauses which

cross-refer to other clauses and checks if target clauses are present.

15. A method as in claim 14, including the step of identifying phrases

which are normally defined within the legal document to check whether the

definition is present within the document.

16. A method for creating electronically a legal document from a

plurality of information details associated with a plurality of legal

documents, the method comprising:

creating the information details associated with the plurality of legal

documents and storing that information in a database and

extracting from the database one or more information details from

the plurality of information details and using the extracted information to

create the legal document.

17. A method as in claim 16, wherein the database for storing the

created information is associated with a first computer system and the extracted information details are stored in a second database associated

with a second computer system.

18. A method as in claim 16, wherein the legal document is a license

relating to the licensing of intellectual property.

19. A business process for on-line licensing comprising providing users

with a series of optional checklists and/or templates, the optional checklists

containing lists of terms and conditions.

20. A method of supporting intellectual property licensing comprising

providing a user with two or more user selectable options, each option

providing a user with information relating to intellectual property licensing

and/or a process for capturing user data relating to intellectual property

licensing and/or a process for creating and/or amending a user specific

intellectual property licensing document.

21. A method of supporting intellectual property licensing comprising

providing a user with two or more user selectable options, each option

providing a user with

(a) information relating to intellectual property licensing and/or (b) a process for capturing user data relating to intellectual

property licensing and/or

(c) a process for creating and/or amending a user specific

intellectual property licensing document.

22. The method as in claim 21 , wherein the method enables a user to

organize clauses into a skeleton in order to produce a coherent document.

23. A system for creating a legal document, the system comprising:

a database system accessible by a plurality of users, said database

system storing data for creating the legal document, said data comprising a

plurality of legal components associated with a plurality of legal

agreements;

a plurality of user terminals used by respective users, each user

terminal communicatively coupled to the database system via a

communications network, said communications network providing a user

access to the database system for extracting legal components to create the

legal document specific to a user.

24. A system as in claim 23, further comprising:

software for displaying to the user a series of user interface screens in the form of a route map, each user interface screen including icons for

directing the user to identify relevant data; and

means for enabling the user to select and add the relevant data to the

legal document being created.

25. A system as in claim 24, further comprising:

a remote database system communicatively coupled to the

communications network and enabling communication with one or more

user terminals, said remote database system including further information

to create the legal document.

26. The system as in claim 23, further comprising:

an autochecker system for checking the legal document created by

the user to identify clauses which cross-refer to other clauses of the legal

document, said autochecker system further determines if target clauses are

present in the legal document.

27. A method of automatically creating a legal document, the method

comprising:

obtaining legal data from one or more sources, said legal data

defining standard terms and conditions, or variable terms and conditions; storing the legal data in a database system;

selectively extracting from the database system desired legal data;

displaying a series of user interface templates in order to enable a user to

identify relevant legal data stored in the database system;

selecting and adding the relevant legal data to the legal document

being created; and

creating the legal document from the added legal data.

28. The method as in claim 27, further comprising:

automatically checking the legal document created by the user to

identify clauses which cross-refer to other clauses of the legal document;

and

determining if target clauses are present in the legal document.

29. The method as in claim 27, further comprising:

determining the presence of definitions by identifying phrases within

the legal document.

30. A method of negotiating an agreement between two parties by creating

a legal document as a basis for the negotiations, the method of creating the

legal document comprising the steps of: obtaining legal data from one or more sources, said legal data

defining standard terms and conditions, or variable terms and conditions;

storing the legal data in a database system;

selectively extracting from the database system desired legal data;

displaying a series of user interface templates in order to enable a user to

identify relevant legal data stored in the database system;

selecting and adding the relevant legal data to the legal document

being created; and

creating the legal document from the added legal data.

31. The method as in claim 30, further comprising:

automatically checking the legal document created by the user to

identify clauses which cross-refer to other clauses of the legal document;

and

determining if target clauses are present in the legal document.

32. The method as in claim 30, further comprising:

determining the presence of definitions by identifying phrases within

the legal document.

33. The method of claim 30, wherein the step of automatically checking the legal document is made available only to a party originating the legal

document.

34. The method as in claim 32, wherein any changes proposed by a party

may be seen wholly or in part by another party involved in the negotiations.

35. The method as in claim 32, wherein private annotations made by a party

are invisible to other negotiating parties.

36. The method as in claim 32, further comprising:

tracking the negotiating of the agreement to determine if negotiating

parties are approaching a consensus or moving apart.

37. The method as in claim 36, wherein the tracking step includes

(i) counting the number of words in amendments and arguments;

and

(ii) plotting a trend.

38. The method as in claim 37, wherein the tracking step further includes:

(iii) applying weighting factors to certain clauses or words of

amendments made to the legal document.

39. The method as in claim 30, wherein the negotiation of the agreement is

conducted over secure or encoded communication links with user log-on

and password protection features.

40. The method as in claim 32, further comprising:

providing tags at specified locations in a frame of the legal

document for enabling the automatic checking of the legal document.

41. A method for electronically creating a legal document from a plurality

of legal documents, the method comprising:

identifying information from the plurality of legal documents to

create the legal document;

storing the identified information in a database system; and

selectively extracting the stored information from the database

system to create the legal document.

42. The method as in claim 41, further comprising:

providing users with a series of optional checklists or templates

43. The method as in claim 41, further comprising:

providing a user with a plurality of user selectable options, each

option having at least

(i) information relating to intellectual property licensing; or

(ii) a process for capturing user data relating to intellectual property

licensing; or

(iii) a process for creating or modifying a user specific intellectual

property licensing document.